Household Food Security Survey

What does it mean to be "food insecure?" It means that you don't have reliable access to the food that you need to lead an active, healthy life. The Household Food Security Survey is conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau as part of its annual Current Population Survey. It measures food access problems related to household financial resources. It is used by the USDA to research and report on food insecurity across the United States. We often talk about food insecurity as "risk of hunger."

Based on your answers to 18 questions, you may experience one of the following:

Food Security

High food security — No problems or anxiety related to putting food on the table. Marginal food security — Occasional challenges or anxiety about putting food on the table, but no significant reduction in the quantity, quality and variety of the household diet.

Food Insecurity

Low food security — Reduction in the quality, variety and desirability of foods eaten- and anxiety related to food access — but no significant disruption of normal eating patterns.Very low food security — Reduced food intake and disrupted eating patterns of one or more household members: reduced quality, variety and desirability of foods eaten and anxiety related to food access.

These are some of the questions answered by those who take the survey…

Sample Survey Question

"I worried whether my food would run out before I got money to buy more." Was that often true, sometimes true, or never true for your household in the last 12 months?

Hunger Fact

49 million Americans lived in food-insecure households in 2012. The national food insecurity rate rose significantly in 2008 and hasn't improved since then.*

Sample Survey Question

In the last 12 months, did you or other adults in your household ever not eat for a whole day because there wasn't enough money for food?

Yes? How often did this happen — almost every month, some months but not every month, or in only 1 or 2 months?

Hunger Fact

In each food-insecure household, family members may experience food insecurity in different ways. Children under 6, in particular, are more likely to be shielded from its worst effects, while adults in the same household often suffer more acutely.*

Sample Survey Question

"I relied on only a few kinds of low-cost food to feed my children because I was running out of money to buy food." Was that often, sometimes, or never true for (you/your household) in the last 12 months?

Hunger Fact

Kindergarteners who experience even minimal food insecurity at home learn less than their peers during that formative year. Those who experience higher food insecurity fall even farther behind.*

Sample Survey Question

In the last 12 months, was your child ever hungry but you just couldn't afford more food?

Yes? How often did this happen — almost every month, some months but not every month, or in only 1 or 2 months?

Hunger Fact

In 2012, 40% of food-insecure households had not participated in the largest federal nutrition programs in the previous month: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly Food Stamps), WIC and the National School Lunch Program.*